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10 Most Famous Celebrity Diamond Rings

They’re unique, often ostentatious and always crazy expensive. Celebrity engagement and wedding rings sometimes seem to captivate people more than the celebrities themselves. That’s why we put together this list of the 10 most famous celebrity diamond rings in recent history. Whether they buy these jaunty jewels because they’re expected to or just because they can, nobody can resist gawking and gossiping about them. Diamond Lighthouse has heard of some pretty outrageous prices coming out of the diamond industry, but none of them top these rocks.

10. Kim Kardashian’s Engagement Ring from Kris Humphries

Whether or not a diamond is actually forever is debatable, but this one certainly lasted longer than the couple’s marriage. Boston Celtics player Kris Humphries proposed to Kim Kardashian in 2011 with this massive 16.21-carat rectangular cut diamond ring. It cost him $2 million. The marriage lasted 72 days. Humphries waited until the divorce was final before selling it back in October of 2013. The ring sold at an auction for $620,000, proving that not even famous athletes can get back the amount they paid for their diamonds.

9. Melania Knauss’s Engagement Ring from Donald Trump

Donald Trump has never been one for subtlety. It was only fitting that the engagement ring he gave to his wife was as grandiose as his personality. When Trump proposed to Melania Knauss in 2004, news outlets everywhere estimated the 12-carat ring to be worth anywhere from $2-3 million. According to New York Magazine however, a “diamond industry source” confirmed that Trump only paid somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 million. All Trump said about it was, “It’s just a nice ring.”

8. Audrey Hepburn’s Wedding Rings from Mel Ferrer

Photo via Pinterest

Audrey Hepburn wore many hats over the course of her life, along with matching dresses, shoes, pants, blouses, suits, pretty much whatever she was feeling that particular day. No matter what she wore, she looked flawless. Her first husband Mel Ferrer figured one ring just wouldn’t do for someone who could completely change her look from one day to the next. For their wedding, Ferrer gave Hepburn two faceted stackable wedding bands, one in rose gold and one in white, so she could switch them out to match the rest of her outfit. Simple, practical, elegant and beautiful: perfect for someone like Audrey.

7. Angelina Jolie’s Engagement Ring from Brad Pitt

After seven years with Angelina Jolie, Brad Pitt wanted to propose with something special: a diamond engagement ring he designed himself. OK, he had some help. Pitt spent a year (and around $250,000) collaborating with Beverly Hills Jeweler Robert Procop to design this multi-stone, emerald-cut diamond ring. Procop says each stone is of the highest quality and that Pitt was heavily involved in the selection and cutting of the diamonds to ensure the final product fit his bride-to-be’s finger perfectly.

6. Beyoncé’s Engagement Ring from Jay-Z

Even Beyoncé probably wasn’t expecting Jay-Z to put a ring like this on it. This gigantic 18-carat platinum diamond engagement ring was designed by jeweler Lorraine Schwartz and has been certified as an exceptional and internally flawless gem. If it looks like this ring set Jay-Z back a pretty penny, that’s because it did. This ring reportedly cost the rapper a cool $5 million. That’s a lot of money for anybody, but something tells us he’ll be just fine.

5. Marilyn Monroe’s Wedding Ring from Joe DiMaggio

Marilyn Monroe never got an engagement ring from Yankee All-Star Joe DiMaggio, but he more than made up for it with this beautiful eternity band featuring 35 baguette cut diamonds set in platinum. The marriage only lasted nine months, but the ring lives on in Hollywood legend. The eternity band ended up at an auction in 1999. With one of the stones missing, auctioneers only expected it to fetch $30,000 to $50,000, but it ended up selling for a whopping $772,500. The ring was last seen at another auction in 2011. This time, it was expected to sell for $300,000 to $500,000, but there is no record of the sale.

4. Grace Kelly’s Engagement Ring from Prince Rainier III

When you’re going to marry a prince, it’s a pretty sure bet that your engagement ring is going to be extravagant and envied by women all over the world. Prince Rainier II of Monaco initially proposed to Grace Kelly with a simple eternity band, but switched it out for this fancier diamond ring once he saw what other Hollywood actresses were wearing. This Cartier ring, featuring a 10.47-carat emerald-cut center stone with two smaller baguette-cut diamonds on either side, was recently valued at $4.06 million.

3. Jaqueline Kennedy Onassis’s Engagement Ring from John F. Kennedy

Then Senator and future President John F. Kennedy spent $1.5 million on this beautiful engagement ring when he proposed to Jacqueline Bouvier in 1953. President Kennedy’s father helped him pick out this ring that features a baguette-cut 2.84-carat emerald set next to an exceptionally clear 2.88-carat diamond.

This engagement ring is particularly special because it was involved in not one, but two royal engagements. Created by jeweler Garrard & Co., this ring consists of a deep blue12-carat sapphire surrounded by 14 solitaire diamonds and set in 18-karat white gold. At the time of Prince Charles and Lady Diana’s engagement in 1981, the ring cost Prince Charles 28,000 pounds sterling, or about $65,500. After the couple’s divorce in 1996, the ring was returned to Prince Charles and eventually given to Charles and Diana’s son Prince William, who used it to propose to Catherine Middleton in 2010. Middleton had the ring resized, asking Crown Jewelers G. Collins and Sons to add two platinum studs to make sure the ring would stay on her finger during her wedding in 2011.

1. Elizabeth Taylor’s Engagement Ring from Richard Burton

There was no way we were going to make it all the way through this list without mentioning one of Elizabeth Taylor’s many beautiful and extravagant engagement rings. She was married eight times to seven men, but the ring that stands out the most was given by her fifth husband Richard Burton. Burton paid $305,000 for it in 1968, and today it remains the most expensive celebrity engagement ring ever given. This 33.19-carat Asscher-cut Krupp diamond has been certified as completely chemically pure and exceptionally transparent. It was last sold at auction to an unnamed collector and today is valued at $8.8 million.

These celebrities may have gone all out when they bought engagement rings, but as most of these marriages show, an expensive ring does not always a happy marriage make. If, like some of these celebs, you’re also looking to sell your diamond wedding or engagement ring, Diamond Lighthouse can make sure you get the most money for it, no matter how much you paid. Don’t be like Kris Humphries. Get more money for your diamond.